‘Frosty’ hopes for better

Former Supercars champion Mark Winterbottom has just four chances left to avoid this year being his first without a race win since 2015.

Winterbottom, who is a dark horse to win one of the two races at the Auckland Super Sprint this weekend, has consistently been one of the top performing drivers in the category, finishing in the season inside the top-six for the last 11 years.

But he goes into this weekend’s action in Pukekohe in seventh place, a massive 708 points behind championship leader Jamie Whincup and there’s just the Newcastle round after this weekend’s one in New Zealand.

For someone who’s one of the leading figures in the category, he admits that 2017 hasn’t been good enough.

‘‘We’ve been pretty average to be honest,’’ Winterbottom said.

‘‘Seventh in the points isn’t good enough and where we should be.

‘‘There have been a few little dramas, but we’re trying to finish off on a high, so that next year we start stronger and get back into it.

‘‘We’ve qualified well in the last few rounds, but that hasn’t translated into results.

‘‘Hopefully this weekend we can get some results and try to finish the year on a high.’’

At the age of 36, Winterbottom has moved into the category of being a veteran Supercars driver.

He’d still be competitive if his car was quick enough and he had better luck.

There are no thoughts yet from him retiring and he’s starting to look at his options once his current deal with Prodrive Racing Australia expires at the end of next season.

However, he insists he doesn’t want to become one of those ageing drivers racing around among the back markers.

‘‘I feel like I’m driving well, but there have been factors that have held me back,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s lots of interest from lots of teams out there, so it’s not like I’ve fallen off the radar.

‘‘We’ve got to sit down with our team and see where we are, they’ve come to me already, so we’ll see what happens.

‘‘I’m not going to drag on and become a statistic, I can still win races, but I don’t think I’ve had the best opportunity to do that this year.

‘‘I think I’ve still got championships in me, but it’s just co competitive and you need everything to go right and it hasn’t been that way this year.’’

Winterbottom won the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy in 2014, which is named after the late New Zealand driver and given to whoever picks up the most points over the Pukekohe weekend.

He says the 2.91km circuit is one he enjoys racing at, but says it’s tricky to get around, even with some of the bumps removed this year.

‘‘We’ve been good here in the past, the bumps made the track more difficult than what it will be now,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s still a tough track. It’s one of those places that looks easy, but there are always big gaps in the times, where it should be a lot closer.

‘‘There should be only half a second in it, but you see over a second difference between first and last each lap.

‘‘You can get sucked into pushing harder in spots that you shouldn’t and vice versa.

‘‘You’re rewarded when you get it right, but a slide off has a big consequence, so you have to know the right points when to push.’’

Although out of the hunt, Winterbottom say he’s intrigued to see how this year’s championship plays out.

There’s little separating Jamie Whincup, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard, while his teammate Chaz Mostert is still in with an outside chance.

‘‘It will be interesting to see what goes on with two Shell cars in contention, plus Chaz (Mostert) and (Jamie) Whincup still in it.’’